Table 2. Skeletal muscle fiber cross-sectional area, fiber type, and capillary and nuclear density in the longissimus muscle of beef cattle from different stocker management programs at the conclusion of the stocker and finishing phases

Variable Stocker management program SEM p-value
CON CORN LGWP HGWP
Intermediate harvest
 Fiber area (μm2) 1,902.06c 1,850.04c 2,458.69a 2,159.87b 38.09 < 0.0001
 Type 1 muscle fibers (%) 31.62x 28.01xy 26.79y 28.00xy 1.35 0.0572
 Type 2 muscle fibers (%) 68.38x 71.99xy 73.21y 72.00xy 1.35 0.0572
 Capillaries/mm2 66.60x 49.40y 48.15y 58.55y 5.62 0.0781
 Nuclei/mm2 674.00 629.65 660.50 658.40 19.19 0.4234
Final harvest
 Fiber area (μm2) 3,015.05b 3,209.15a 2,927.39b 2,471.57c 56.04 < 0.0001
 Type 1 muscle fibers (%) 27.82xy 26.77y 31.13x 29.40xy 1.23 0.0720
 Type 2 muscle fibers (%) 72.18xy 73.23y 68.87x 70.60xy 1.23 0.0720
 Capillaries/mm2 67.30a 45.95b 41.30b 50.05b 5.10 0.0034
 Nuclei/mm2 598.15a 585.25ab 542.95b 572.90ab 18.41 0.1862
Least square means within a row lacking a common superscript differ (p ≤ 0.05).
Least square means within a row lacking a common superscript tend to differ (0.0501 ≤ p ≤ 0.10).
SEM, standard error of the LS mean.
CON, 40% crude protein cottonseed meal-based supplement on dormant native range; CORN, corn and soybean meal-based supplement on dormant native range; LGWP, re-duced rate of gain on wheat pasture; HGWP: high rate of gain on wheat pasture.